Legislators must fix Louisiana's prison mess: A letter to the editor

Re: "Louisiana Incarcerated: How we built the world's prison capital," Page A1, May 13-20.

"There but for the grace of God, go I" for not being born a poor, black boy in an American city and state with the highest prison incarceration rates in the entire world.

A reality now exposed must be remedied by our Legislature that for far too long has overreacted to the ravages of crime and been unduly influenced by those with a financial interest in maintaining high occupancy rates in privately run jails.

Undo the injustice. It harms our community, city and state at every level and undermines the goals long sentencing ostensibly are intended to achieve.